Dual lens helmet

ABSTRACT

A rider helmet comprising a first lens pivotally mounted to the helmet, a second lens pivotally mounted to the helmet in spaced apart relationship to the first lens, a recessed slot in the helmet and lens retention means in the recessed slot wherein the first lens and the second lens are manually operable between a stored position inside the recessed slot and an operational position outside of the recessed slot with the lens retention means selectively retaining the first lens and the second lens in either the operational position or the stored position.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to face shields or lenses for helmets of a typeworn by operators of snowmobiles, motorcycles and the like. Inparticular, the invention relates to adapting the helmet with a clearprotective visor or lens in combination with a light attenuating visoror lens wherein both lenses are stored in a curved recessed slot at thefront of the helmet between the helmet shell and the liner. The lensesare pivotally attached to the helmet and are independently and manuallyoperable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Rider's of motorized vehicles such as snowmobiles and motorcyclesgenerally wear protective helmets which is either an optional ormandatory requirement. Helmets may be equipped with a visor or lens toprotect the rider's facial area. Typically the helmets have a hard outershell and an inner cushioned liner to cushion the rider's head in theevent of an impact.

Typically, a face shield or lens is rotatably attached to each side ofthe helmet to allow pivotal rotation of the face shield from anoperational position covering the rider's facial area to a storedposition exposing the rider's facial area and vice versa. A rider mayoptionally use a lens designed for use in bright light conditions, oruse a clear lens for riding in the evening. This requires that the riderinterchange the lenses since a dark lens would not be suitable for useduring the night.

In many jurisdictions, legal requirements mandate that a helmet with aface shield in operational position be worn at all times duringoperation of the motorized vehicle. As a consequence, riders have todisrupt their travel in order to remove and change the face shield thatis installed on their helmet when necessitated by changes in lightconditions. The interchanging of the face shields may require tools andtake a significant amount of time. The need for an additional lens alsonecessitates the need for riders to store the second lens during travel.

Due to the difficulties described above, some riders use only atransparent lens and wear sunglasses in combination with a face shieldin bright light conditions. The use of sunglasses in combination with aface shield can be uncomfortable, reduce a rider's field of vision, andbe prone to the accumulation of condensation on the sunglasses.Additionally, when not in use the sunglasses must also be stored and therider may have to remove the helmet in order to put the sunglasses on.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a rider helmetcomprising a first lens pivotally mounted to the helmet and a secondlens pivotally mounted to the helmet in spaced apart relationship to thefirst lens. A recessed slot in the helmet is provided with lensretention means wherein the first lens and the second lens areindependently manually operable between a stored position inside therecessed slot to an operational position outside of the recessed slot.The lens retention means selectively retain the first lens and thesecond lens in either the operational position or the stored position.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a helmetwherein the second lens is a light attenuating lens and the first lensis transparent.

According to an aspect of the invention a helmet is provided wherein thesecond lens comprises a flange extending from the top edge so as toengage the top edge of the first lens when the second lens is rotatedinto the operational position whereby both lenses may be togetherrotated into the operational position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, a preferredembodiment thereof will now be described in detail by way of example,with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a helmet with two lenses according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the transparent lens according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the shaded lens according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is an inner perspective view of the ratchet insert showing thelocking mechanism used to hold the lens in place;

FIG. 5 is a side cross sectional view of the ratchet mechanism accordingto the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the lenses attached within the ratchet insert.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A helmet 1 having two lenses according to the present invention isillustrated in the figures. As shown in FIG. 1, an outer protectivetransparent lens 2 is provided as well as an inner lens 3 in spacedapart relationship thereto. The inner lens 3 is specifically designedfor use in bright lighting conditions and is hereinafter referred to asthe shaded lens. Both or either of the lenses may be selectively andmanually operated to shield the rider's facial area. In bright lightconditions it is generally preferable to use a tinted or shaded lens, apolarized lens or any other lens that is light attenuating in order toreduce the amount of light reaching the rider's facial area. In lowlight conditions it is generally preferable to use a clear ortransparent lens to maximize the amount of light reaching the rider'seyes.

A preferred embodiment of the transparent lens 2 is illustrated in FIG.2. The shape, thickness, size, material and curvature of the lens aredependant on the design of the helmet for which the lens is to be used.As such, the embodiment of the lens illustrated in one possibleembodiment and variants are contemplated. The transparent lens 2preferably has an unthreaded hole 7 at each side to facilitate thepivotal connection of the lens to the helmet 1 as will be hereinafterdescribed.

A preferred embodiment of the shaded lens 3 is illustrated in FIG. 3.The shape, thickness, size, material and curvature of the lens aredependant on the design of the helmet for which the lens is to be used.As such, the embodiment of the lens illustrated in one possibleembodiment and variants are contemplated. In the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention the thickness of the shaded lens 3 is less thanthe thickness of the transparent lens 2 to reduce the area requiredinside the helmet 1 to store the shaded lens 3. The shaded lens 3preferably has an unthreaded hole 8 at each side to facilitate thepivotal connection of the lens to the helmet 1 as will be hereinafterdescribed.

The transparent lens 2 and the shaded lens 3 may be manufactured fromany material known in the art that provides proper protection andadheres to safety regulations. The surfaces of the lenses may be coatedwith various coatings known in the art to enhance the characteristics ofthe lens. An example of such coating would be an anti-fog coating.

Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of the helmet 1 is shownwith both the transparent lens 2 and the shaded lens 3 in theoperational, downwardly extending, position. As shown in FIG. 1, theoperational position for each lens is such that the lens is situated infront of the rider's facial area when the rider is wearing the helmet 1to protect the rider's face from, for example, debris and wind. In theoperational position, the rider's field of vision passes through thelens.

The helmet 1 is comprised of two components, a hard outer shell 4 and aninner liner 5 to cushion the rider's head in the event of an impact. Inthe preferred embodiment, a recessed slot 6 is provided in between theshell 4 and the liner 5 above the rider's facial area for storage of thelenses. The recessed slot 6 is defined by the walls of the shell 4 andthe liner 5. Alternatively, an insert may be placed in the recessed slot6 to define a particular shape and size of the slot having regard to thelenses to be used.

As shown in FIG. 6, the lenses are preferably rotatably mounted insidethe recessed slot 6 by a pivotal connection using the holes 7 and 8provided at each end of the lenses. A particular preferred example of apivotal connection is a pin connection 9 described below but the lensesmay be pivotally connected to the helmet 1 by any other known pivotconnection means. The preferred example of a pivotal connection utilizestwo fasteners 10 to create a pin connection 9 on each side of the helmet1. The fasteners 10 have a head, a threaded portion extending from thehead and an unthreaded end shaft portion. The fasteners 10 are insertedthrough threaded holes provided in the shell 4 of the helmet 1 andthrough holes 7 and 8 provided in each lens such that the end of thefastener abuts with the edge of the recessed slot 6 and the lenses arethereby secured in the recessed slot 6. The threaded portion of thefasteners 10 engage the threaded holes provided in the in shell 4 of thehelmet 1 to secure the fasteners 10 in place. The unthreaded shaft ofthe fasteners 10 in effect acts as an axle allowing the lenses to rotatein and out of the recessed slot 6.

The lenses are rotatable between an operational position and a storedposition. As shown in FIG. 1 each lens is preferably provided with amanual grasping element 11 to assist the rider in rotating the lenses.The stored position for each lens is such that the lens is rotated in tothe recessed slot 6 provided between the shell 4 and the liner 5. Whenrotated into the stored position the lenses do not cover the rider'sfacial area nor does the rider's field of vision pass through the lens.

As shown in FIG. 3 the shaded lens 3 may include a flange 12 whichprotrudes outward along the top edge of the lens. When both lenses aremounted to the helmet 1 the flange 12 extends over the top edge of thetransparent lens 2. When the shaded lens 3 is rotated from the storedposition into the operational position the flange 12 will be broughtinto contact with the top edge of the adjacent transparent lens 2 sothat the force exerted on the transparent lens 2 by the flange 12 willcause the transparent lens 2 to also rotate into the operationalposition. As such, the shaded lens 3 can only be rotated into theoperational position together with the transparent lens 2 and cannototherwise be brought into the operational position singly.

Preferably the rotation of the lenses is controlled by lens retentionmeans. A particular preferred example of lens retention means is aratchet system; however, the rotation of the lenses may be limited byany other known locking system. In the preferred embodiment, a ratchetmechanism is used to hold the lenses in either the operational positionor the stored position. Referring to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, the ratchetmechanism used to hold the lenses in place is shown in detail. Theratchet system is comprised of two ratchet inserts 13 located at theopposing ends of the recessed slot 6. Each ratchet insert 13 may beprovided with a hole 15 to secure it in the recessed slot 6 by thefasteners 10 used to create the pivotal connection. Additionally a tab16 is provided on the outside of each of the ratchet inserts to engagewith the inside of the outer shell 4 of the helmet 1 and preventrotation or movement of the insert.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the ends of each lens have small protrusionsor tabs 17 that engage with corresponding indents 18 provided in theratchet insert 13. As the lenses rotate between operational position andengaged stored the tabs 17 engage and slide over the correspondingindents 18 to frictionally secure the lenses in position. When a lens isin the operational position the tabs 17 are frictionally secured withinthe top two indents 18 provided. When a lens in stored position the tabs17 are frictionally secured in the bottom two indents 18 provided.

Other advantages which are inherent to the invention are obvious to oneskilled in the art. The embodiments are described herein illustrativelyand are not meant to limit the scope of the invention as claimed.Variations of the foregoing embodiments will be evident to a person ofordinary skill and are intended by the inventor to be encompassed by thefollowing claims.

1. A rider helmet comprising; a first lens pivotally mounted to thehelmet having a top edge, a second lens pivotally mounted to the helmetin spaced apart relationship to the first lens having a top edge, arecessed slot in the helmet, lens retention means in the recessed slotand attached therein, and wherein the first lens and the second lens areindependently manually operable between a stored position inside therecessed slot and an operational position outside of the recessed slot,and wherein the lens retention means selectively retain the first lensand the second lens in either the operational position or the storedposition.
 2. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the lens retention meanscomprises a ratchet system.
 3. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the secondlens is light attenuating.
 4. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the firstlens is transparent.
 5. The helmet of claim 2, comprising a handgrasping element on the first lens.
 6. The helmet of claim 5, comprisinga grasping element on the second lens.
 7. The helmet of claim 1, whereinthe first lens and the second lens are pivotally mounted to the helmetby a pin connection.
 8. The helmet of claim 1, wherein the second lensfurther comprises a flange extending from the top edge so as to engagethe top edge of the first lens when the second lens is rotated into theoperational position and whereby both lenses are together rotated intothe operational position.